Pricey GranitePhone Offers Encryption and Secure Cloud Services

anfIf you’ve been keeping up with smartphone news, you may have noticed that a new wave of secure phones is hitting the market, packed with extra encryption and safety features to make sure that no one can hack into valuable data. The GranitePhone, a project by Archos and Sikur, is the latest addition to wave.

Like other secure phones, this option uses a unique operating system: It’s called Granite OS, based on Android, and it’s here to protect all your data. When you make a call, put in contact info, send a message, start a chat, etc., the OS will automatically encrypt your data to help protect it. If you need to save a lot of data, there are also options for using Sikur’s secure cloud storage services, which may be particularly handy for workplace professionals and students.

The GranitePhone comes with a unique OS.

However secure phones do have their issues, and one of them is often a lack of impressive specs. The GranitePhone is no exception. It has a sturdy but unimpressive design that includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, a 5-inch screen, and 15GB of storage, as well as a front and back camera. Definitely not elite, but respectable for most phone activities if you don’t need to have multiple apps open all the time.

However, the phone suffers from another concern of this wave of secure models: While the specs aren’t high end, the prices certainly are. This is one of the worst offenders with an $850 price tag that is not diminished by deals or contract prices. Of course, this is somewhat balanced out by access to the unique Sikur security services, but it’s still a lot to ask for an average smartphone, despite all the encryption capabilities. If you don’t mind the upfront cost, though, the GranitePhone is available for preorder now.